Mercedes-Benz Cars Worldwide Sales Drop 6.7 Percent In June 2009

"They need to start offering 6spd manuals,and better handling cars."


Why should they offer 6-speed manuals? So 20 year old kids like you can impress girls by driving a manual Benz? Give me a break. The target market of Mercedes-Benz isn't interested in "driving". They want comfort, luxury and the prestigious name of the brand. It is not financially intelligent for Mercedes to offer manual transmissions in their cars because THIS DOESN'T SELL them. Heck, even here in Europe where most cars are manual transmissioned, a Mercedes with a manual transmission, especially an E-Class, C-Class or even SLK-Class will be hard to sell or resell. People want automatics in a Benz. End of story.

The handling of modern Mercedes' is just fine too. Do you drive home everyday as if you're on a racetrack? I seriously doubt that. The suspension setup of your average Mercedes is already an excellent compromise between sport and comfort. If you want something sportier go buy a BMW or Infiniti.


"Less weight would create even better acceleration times and drastically improve the handling."

Is acceleration so important? You sound like a 15 year old that thinks 0-60 is all that matters. Handling, as I said before, is completely fine. In fact US-spec Mercedes' are watered down in the handling department so that they are more comfortable than their sportier European counterpart. Besides, very few people who buy a Mercedes care about razor sharp handling.


"They need to get rid of the idea that Mercedes are for old people."

That idea was killed in 1982 with the advent of the 190-Series. Oh, and did you know that the average age of a BMW owner in Germany is 56 while a Mercedes owner is 54 years old (Source: Autobild).



"With better handling cars and a sportier image im sure sales would be up."

Mercedes cars sell not because of BMW-like handling or a sporty image. They sell because they're Mercedes-Benz cars. Very simple. The history, the image, the innovation, the motorsport etc. behind this brand is what sells them. The handling of your modern Benz is completely adequate for every situation and even sporty driving. Hell, even a 1979 200D W123 drove pretty modern the last time I drove one.

— Wimmer (View Profile)

Posted on 7/9/2009 11:00:21 AM | | Votes: 2